This study applies Sperber and Wilson's relevance theory to the comprehension of figurative language in poetry. Students' understanding of metaphor as a linguistic category and comprehension of metaphorical texts are analysed in terms of the principle of relevance. Patterns of comprehension in English first language (Ll) and English second language (ESL) students' analyses of metaphorical texts are discussed and through an analysis of similarities and differences in these patterns of comprehension an attempt is made to develop a pedagogy around relevance theory. Relevance theory's particular emphasis on the role played by "context" in cognition is seen to have significance for the teaching of literature in South African universities. Relevance theory's account of cognition generates a range of educational principles which could be specifically applied to the teaching of metaphor. An appraisal of the strengths and difficulties students experience in expressing their understanding of metaphor in an academic context is included. This was done to further develop relevance theory into a pedagogical approach which takes into account the academic context in which writing occurs. The investigation of the particular difficulties that English metaphor poses for ESL students entailed acquiring a working knowledge of the ways in which metaphor is taught and assessed in DET schools. The interpretations of students of different linguistic, social and educational backgrounds reveal unifying elements that could be incorporated into a pedagogy based on relevance theory. Such a pedagogy would be appropriate to the multilingual/multicultural/multiracial nature of classes in South African universities and would be a more empowering approach to the teaching of English metaphor.

This study sought to investigate English literate journeys of selected Grade 12 learners who come from educationally disempowering home backgrounds, and who ‘meet’ informal and/or formal exposure to English language mainly within the confines of school hours. Located within the qualitative, interpretive life history study design, the study used questionnaire and learners’ autobiographies to generate data. These data were then subjected to explore the literate journey of these learners in English as a second language through a comprehensive descriptive analysis. The study was conducted in an urban high school in Omaheke region, Namibia, and the research site and study participants were selected purposively. Theoretically, the study drew from Krashen’s (1981) Second Language Acquisition Theory, which offered this study the five hypotheses that were used as categories to generate, analyse, interpret and discuss data. Research findings reveal that, for various reasons discussed in the study, there is minimal parental involvement in the English literacy journey of their children at home. These include parents not reading regularly to their children, not encouraging visits to the library and the shortage of literacy materials such as newspapers and magazines. The educational level of parents is also a major contributing factor in the literacy journey of their children. The contribution of the community towards the literacy journey in English as a second language of these learners was minimal since the vernacular languages or Afrikaans were used to communicate. At the school level it was found that the attitude of some teachers was a hindrance, as was the way they taught. The use of the mother tongue during teaching also had an effect on the literacy development of the learners. Although the different methods used by various teachers at school level contributed in a way towards literacy development of the learners at school, the huge number of learners in the classrooms was a force to be reckoned with. It is hoped that the study’s findings will assist the Ministry of Basic Education Arts and Culture (MBEAC) in Namibia in informing the type of syllabus content and pedagogical practices to be utilised in teaching English as a Second Language.

The purposes of this study were (1) to determine if the culture of the student's first language was a significant variable in field-dependent-independent cognitive learning style, and (2) if a student's second language achievement has a significant relationship to variables of grade level, sex, time in an English as a second language (ESL) program, second language proficiency level or cognitive learning style. It was hypothesized that (1) there are significant positive correlations between field-independence and the variables of achievement, proficiency level, and grade level, (2) there are significant positive correlations between second language achievement and proficiency level, grade level and time in an ESL program, (3) there are no significant differences in field-dependence between the sexes or the four cultures of Laotian, Spanish, Tongan, and Vietnamese, and (4) there is no significant difference in the mean achievement score between the sexes.

No description available.

Over 13-weeks a control group (n=7) had all errors corrected, while an experimental group (n=9) had only article and sentence construction (run-on sentences, fragments, comma splices) errors corrected. Separating the two types of errors is essential, since the latter (representing grammar) are subject to theories of acquisition and the former (representing usage) are not. One-way analyses of variance ran on pretest versus posttest found no significant difference in either groups' article errors; however, the experimental group had significantly fewer sentence construction errors, implying that teachers should be sensitive to both the correction technique and error type; researchers should not combine the two error types in gathering data.

No description available.

D.Ed. / The general preference for English as language of teaching and learning (LoLT) poses a formidable learning barrier to many English Second Language (ESL) learners in South African schools. Addressing this barrier is the responsibility of the whole-school with the support of the Department of Education. In particular, school based support teams (SBST) are tasked with the support of learners who experience reading barriers in an inclusive mainstream school. This thesis concerns the implementation of a whole-school intervention at a primary school in a disadvantaged community in Gauteng, South Africa, where ESL learners experience severe barriers to reading acquisition. The aim was to provide support to the whole-school to address reading barriers in an inclusive environment. Objectives were to identify the elements of whole-school reading; to develop and implement an integrated whole-school reading intervention; to train educators to address learners’ reading barriers; and to provide guidelines to the Inclusion and Special Schools Unit (provincial level), District Based Support Team (DBST) and the school, to address reading barriers in future. A literature study reviewed themes regarding inclusion, support structures and whole-school development. Literature dealing with essential elements of whole-school reading, approaches and strategies provided a theoretical framework for the implementation of whole-school reading. A qualitative study within an interpretive paradigm using practitioner action research was conducted. The research site was a primary school in a disadvantaged area in Gauteng, which had referred ESL learners to the local Inclusion and Special Schools Unit for support. Action research was selected because of its fundamental principle of participant empowerment through participation, collaboration, acquisition of knowledge and social change. Data was gathered from staff and learners and analysed during the phases of the action research process. Data collection included learner and educator questionnaires, discussions, observations, field notes, pre- and post baseline scholastic assessment, focus group interviews and the researcher’s reflections. Findings indicated that SBST’s need support in order to address reading barriers. ESL learners do not receive sufficient exposure to English to develop reading skills. Intermediate phase educators have not been trained to teach learners to read and improve their reading skills. Whole-school reading intervention was thus valuable in providing training and support structures for the school to address reading difficulties.

D.Phil. / With the demise of apartheid and the ushering in of a new political dispensation, many changes have taken place in South Africa. The field of education, which was one of the most volatile areas of concern for the apartheid regime and has been described by some academics at the University of Natal as being a miasmic morass marked by systemic crisis, has been quick to purge itself of some of its apartheid legacies. For instance, to offset the harmful effects of the 'Bantu Education Act', a new school curriculum - Curriculum 2005- has been introduced. It is hoped by the education authorities that Curriculum 2005, which has its roots in Outcomes-based Education (OBE) and an accompanying pedago91 based on a constructivist methodology, will help considerably in preparing students adequately for the challenges of adulthood. This is something that has hitherto been denied them by the obnoxious 'Bantu Education Act'. This study is undertaken on the premise that without being able to crawl, a child cannot walk, let alone run. Against this background, teachers should first of all undergo an intensive re-training programme to bring their knowledge and competency levels to acceptable standards. It is only after this, that they can be eased into the otherwise complex, contradictory and sometimes unintelligible concepts being branded as OBE. Without this, there would be a case of 'tissue rejection' or the proverbial 'the body is willing but the spirit is weak' as teachers would not be able to cope with the demands of Curriculum 2005. The focus of this study is particularly on the (English) language teacher, whose task has been made all the more difficult by the constitutional stipulation that eleven of the languages spoken in the Republic of South Africa should be considered as official languages - an unnecessary drain on the fragile economy. Besides, as there is no clear-cut directive from the national Department of Education, English language teachers are faced with a situation in which they do not know which variety of English to teach. The problem is further compounded by the obvious lack of training for the teachers in second language teaching techniques and their own communication competence. Teachers in rural areas are the worse hit, as they are not exposed to any of the advances in modern technology, which could easily compensate for their inadequacies. The study postulates that until serious attempts are made to remedy and solve such problems, the introduction of Curriculum 2005 and/or any other curriculum innovations will be an exercise in futility. The investigation conducted to examine this claim has delivered findings that support this claim. It has also shown that the sample of teachers drawn from a rural population have little linguistic awareness, limited competence in English and practise a pedagogy that borders on a fraudulent use of so-called 'OBE techniques', without sufficient knowledge and/or understanding.

M.A. / This study wants to outline some of the errors made by the Motswana child when she/he communicates in English. I also want to look at the origin of the errors and how the errors affect cohesive writing and interpretation. This research also aims at making second language teachers aware of the influence a first language can have in the learning of a second language. Note: At school level, the student/child learns the language and does not acquire it and thus language learning skills or strategies should not be confused with language acquisition skills or strategies. Transfer has long been a controversial issue, bur recent studies support the view that crosslinguistic influences can have an important impact on second language learning. To elaborate on the above issue, the article, the pronoun and number will be looked at. I want to establish how much influence a learner's native language can have in making the learning of a new language easy or difficult. I want us to look at the following questions of which some will lead or develop into our hypotheses:- Will knowledge of the origin of errors eliminate or reduce the errors? Which errors will be eliminated and at what rate? Will the remedial lessons have an effect on the elimination or reduction of errors? Is the contrastive analysis method the best way to handle such a situation? To what extent do errors affect interpretation and connectivity? The study is conducted on the following language categories:- The pronoun (English vs Tswana) ; The article (English vs Tswana) ; Number (English vs Tswana) ; Cohesive writing (misconception/ambiguity)

M.Ed. / New vistas for research among educationists are being introduced through the implementation of the Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS), the second phase of Outcomes-Based Education (OBE) in South Africa that will be put into practice for the Foundation Phase from 2004. This essay seeks to engage at grassroots level with the people who are experiencing the new dispensation in the teaching of Literacy in the Foundation Phase: the educators, the learners and their parents and the district officials. It is a vital part of the change process, and the sustaining of the Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS), that the present reforms are encouraged at all centres of learning: to this end educators are being trained during their holidays. The revised curriculum aims are empowering both learners and educators, with a particular emphasis on offering learners the necessary opportunity to equip themselves for life in society once they have finished school. The setting of the study is a school in Gauteng, 90% of whose learners are from the informal settlement of Bekkersdal with its highly congested homes. The overcrowding in the shacks contributes to the difficulty of the learners in the area to master their work, and it is left to educators in the area to bear full responsibility for the education of the learners, for parents in the area are unable to be involved in the process for most of them are illiterate. Individual educators in the school, aware of the sociological factors that impact in a negative manner on the schooling in the area, are expected to “go an extra mile” to empower learners so that they, becoming literate, have the opportunity to construct knowledge by means of knowledge sharing, exploration, asking questions and active participation in the classroom. / Dr. M.C. van Loggerenberg